People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is on a mission to save Punxsutawney Phil. The animal rights group has suggested the season-predicting groundhog, appointed to determine how long we’ll have to tolerate Ol’ Man Winter each year, should be replaced with a robot, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Wednesday.

The tomfoolery of this organization never ceases to amaze me. Why are these people allowed to walk the streets without medication?

Gemma Vaughan, an Animals in Entertainment Specialist with PETA, penned a letter to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club on Wednesday arguing that keeping Phil on display year-round is a “cruel” way to treat the animal. Blah….Blah…Blah!

“Make the compassionate decision to use an animatronic Phil and retire the live groundhogs who are used for Groundhog Day activities to a sanctuary,” Vaughan wrote in the plea. “Tradition is no excuse for cruelty.”

Bill Deeley, president of the Club, has called the request “crazy.”

“Phil is probably treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania,” Deeley said. “He’s got air conditioning in the summer, his pen is heated in winter … He has everything but a TV in there. What more do you want?”